Could anyone (who has the $$) shoot a rocket to a planet and...

tstick

tstick

Well-Known Member
...just for the sake of a (stoned) discussion, I was wondering if someone could build a rocket and, say, shoot it to Mars with some water or chemicals that could start some life growing there, themselves -without the permission of anyone on Earth.....because no country on Earth has claim to the planets in our galaxy....right?

I heard there is a Saudi-Arabian guy who has a TRILLION dollars, now. He would have the money to pay for such an adventure...but is there anyone to stop a person from attempting something like this?
 
In the USA you would need dozens of licenses, and a few dozen or more permits, and a bribe or so to start.

In some other countrys a single bribe will work
 
So, really then, all BS aside...it's just a matter of money? Because, let's say there is a trillionaire and he is posed with the "dilemma" of spending a trillion dollars in a human lifespan....What better way to achieve it then landing your own high-tech scientific experiments on whatever galactic territory you damn well please....right?

But...What about the Moon? Let's say the trillionaire wants to put a big, flashing, neon sign on the Moon that could be seen all the time from Earth? Would he be able to do so?
 
You could even claim Mars as your own. Once you step foot on it.

Yes it could be done but settling on Mars is a lot more involved than "shooting a rocket off"
 
tstick said:
So, really then, all BS aside...it's just a matter of money? Because, let's say there is a trillionaire and he is posed with the "dilemma" of spending a trillion dollars in a human lifespan....What better way to achieve it then landing your own high-tech scientific experiments on whatever galactic territory you damn well please....right?

But...What about the Moon? Let's say the trillionaire wants to put a big, flashing, neon sign on the Moon that could be seen all the time from Earth? Would he be able to do so?
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Moon has an accord on it..so no you could not do that.
 
tstick said:
But...What about the Moon? Let's say the trillionaire wants to put a big, flashing, neon sign on the Moon that could be seen all the time from Earth? Would he be able to do so?
Click to expand...

That's a good question, and I think it was addressed by Heinlein in one of his short-stories (The man who sold the Moon, perhaps?).
There are other "experiments" on the moon, I think. I seem to recall there are some mirrors for bouncing lasers off of, owned by the US military (or some science branch) on the surface. So anyone wanting to place gaudy signwork on the moon will probably have to do more palm greasing than it is worth, never mind the bureaucratic nightmare surrounding it. Unless the mission can be shown to benefit the world more directly, it seems more difficult than it is worth without some new Physics to replace the combustion engine.

Also, that's going to be a pretty fucking big sign if it is supposed to be visible to the naked eye. :lol:
One trillion dollars won't cover that amount of work.
 
heckler73 said:
That's a good question, and I think it was addressed by Heinlein in one of his short-stories (The man who sold the Moon, perhaps?).
There are other "experiments" on the moon, I think. I seem to recall there are some mirrors for bouncing lasers off of, owned by the US military (or some science branch) on the surface. So anyone wanting to place gaudy signwork on the moon will probably have to do more palm greasing than it is worth, never mind the bureaucratic nightmare surrounding it. Unless the mission can be shown to benefit the world more directly, it seems more difficult than it is worth without some new Physics to replace the combustion engine.

Also, that's going to be a pretty fucking big sign if it is supposed to be visible to the naked eye. :lol:
One trillion dollars won't cover that amount of work.
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The reflector was put their by NASA i believe when man first went to the moon. It provided proof that the mission did in fact succeed.
But then that was on The Big Bang Theory TV show..lol
 
I just think it's an interesting concept to think about -since, on Earth, EVERYTHING is owned. So, in a place where no one (yet) owns anything, WHO will decide what approach to take in the pioneering of it? It most assuredly will be the people who have the money....and since individuals are now so wealthy, they have more money than many countries, then they may be the ones to decide.

We look at things through telescopes, now, but maybe one day in the future, when human consciousness will be transferred to robotic bodies capable of immortality, then the problems of distance and time will cease to be problems and the future evolution of humans will be boundless.
 
tstick said:
I just think it's an interesting concept to think about -since, on Earth, EVERYTHING is owned. So, in a place where no one (yet) owns anything, WHO will decide what approach to take in the pioneering of it? It most assuredly will be the people who have the money....and since individuals are now so wealthy, they have more money than many countries, then they may be the ones to decide.

We look at things through telescopes, now, but maybe one day in the future, when human consciousness will be transferred to robotic bodies capable of immortality, then the problems of distance and time will cease to be problems and the future evolution of humans will be boundless.
Click to expand...
upload_2017-7-11_8-15-47.jpeg
 
tstick said:
...just for the sake of a (stoned) discussion, I was wondering if someone could build a rocket and, say, shoot it to Mars with some water or chemicals that could start some life growing there, themselves -without the permission of anyone on Earth.....because no country on Earth has claim to the planets in our galaxy....right?

I heard there is a Saudi-Arabian guy who has a TRILLION dollars, now. He would have the money to pay for such an adventure...but is there anyone to stop a person from attempting something like this?
Click to expand...

in theory it is possible.

not sure where I heard the idea of dropping the whole arsenal of atomic weapons on planet earth on Mars. To be precise on the north and south poles - which already contain polar ice caps - in an effort to evaporate them, have liquid water fall on the surface - and see what happens.

the idea would be that if water content of the atmosphere reaches a certain point then temperatures normalize - causing liquid water to exist - cloud cover etc etc...

that would make the planet more habitable - then you shoot rockets with seeds and stuff to try to create a second earth of sorts...

it would be the most expensive science experiment ever attempted....
 
Think I saw a couple movies like this and they eventually get launched. In reality if you can afford a space program you can afford the permits.

Firing off a gigantic 6 stage launch vehicle with attached lander will surly get you tagged as a solo threat long before launch as you try and acquire rocket fuel for said vehicle and subsequently shot down by the black budget space vehicles up there if you do launch.

Haven't even mentioned launch windows, orbital planes, pork chop maneuvers etc. :-)
 
First we have to develop a synthetic self-sustained, self-propagating ecosystem on earth (or in the lab), before anything like that can be exported to other planets. We haven't been able to do that yet, not even in computer models. One reason is because we haven't yet fully figured each and every single component of a complete ecosystem.

For illustration's sake, here's one simple example (note in the end how complex it gets),

You want to create an ecosystem which has 10 types of plants, a community of herbivores which predates the plants, a community of carnivores that predates the herbivores, and a microbial population that decomposes all dead organisms and produces nutrients for the plants. A complete cycle.

If the herbivore predates all the plants before they can reproduce, the ecosystem will collapse. If the carnivore predates all the herbivores before they reproduce, both will go extinct.

If you want a functional microbial community for plant nutrients, then you have to isolate each microbe and their function. How will nitrates distribute in this chain? Phosphates? Carbon, molybdenum, iron, manganese, chlorine, etc.. all these elements and compounds have to be recycled in the chain and passed up the hierarchy and back down. [We haven't fully figured out yet which organism is responsible for what]

Then there is intraspecific and interspecific competition between the organisms. Is one organism hoarding all the resources? One minor fuck up like this and the whole system can collapse.

Everything has to be completely balanced. We haven't really figured out yet how to do that in the lab. The major challenge is the ecology and lack of complete understanding of interaction between species.
 
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yes you could i don't think you would really need any permits or permission ether people blast toy rockets into the sky all the time and some of those travel just as high as planes if not higher, and there are no laws in space so really nothing anyone can do once it leaves the atmosphere and honestly dude you can do whatever you want so long as you don't get caught or killed we are all free to do as we please no one owns us.


of course sending water/life to mars really just would not work the conditions there are just too harsh however if you developed some really basic form of life and adapted it to Marses atmosphere over time it might work.
 
Meh, all you gotta do is find that ball with the three finger holes on it, push it down and wait for an atmosphere. Then find the oblisque, go inside and push a few buttons to turn on planetary defenses,

Then use the transporter to beam down whatever woman and food you need and you will own the planet. Bwa-ha-ha. Grow as much as you like. Nobody will bother you. ;)
 
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